Discharge outlet assembly for a hopper



March 20, 1956 A. E. ZlMMER DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 14 1951 March 20, 1956 A. E. ZIMMER DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 14, 195] INV ENTOR. dlberfiimzfizel;

March 20, 1956 A. E. ZIMMER DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 14, 1951 March 20, 1956 A. E. ZIMMER DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 14, 1951 INVENTOR.

March 20, 1956 A. E. zlMMER DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER Filed Aug. 14, 195] 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 L1 5' a I INVENTOR.

March 1956 A. E. ZIMMER 2,738,735

DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER Filed Aug. 14, 195] 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INV ENTOR.

March 20, 1956 A. E. ZIMMER 2,738,735

DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER Filed Aug. 14, 1951 TSheets-Sheet 7 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent F DISCHARGE OUTLET ASSEMBLY FOR A HOPPER Albert E. Zimmer, Chicago, 11]., assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois I Application August 14, 1951, Serial No. 241,761

Claims. (Cl. 105-282) The invention relates to an improved discharge outlet assembly for a hopper having an opening and a frame surrounding the opening including a sliding gate carried by the frame for closing the opening.

The objects of this invention among others are: To provide improved cooperating sealing means between a sliding gate and outlet frame; to provide improved means for elevating a sliding gate through the medium of rack and pinion from one level to another; to provide a sliding gate having a depressed channel surrounding the marginal edges of the gate and to provide means whereby said gate is elevated to dispose the depressed portion into sealing engagement with downwardly extending flanges on the frame; and more specifically this invention resides in the structure employed to effect the elevation of the gate and in the method of locking the gate in closed position.

For further comprehension of this invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings wherein the invention is applied to the hopperof a railway car.

In said drawings Figure 1 is avertical side elevational view of a portion of the hopper showing as much thereof as necessary to illustrate the. improved structure applied thereto with the gate inclosed and latched position.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on a line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the gate and frame and showing the structure illustrated in Figure 3 except that the gate is indicated in partially opened position and in lowered position.

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on a line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 except that the gate is shown in lowered position.

Figure 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the end of the outlet showing as much as necessary of the structure to show the shaft operating and locking means for the gate.

Figure 8 is an end elevational sectional view taken on a line 88 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a view at an enlarged scale of a portion of the gate at one end.

Figure 10 is a view, at an enlarged scale, of the right hand end of the frame shown in Figure 3 the gate being omitted.

Figure ll is a view, similar to that shown in Figure 8, illustrating a modification of the frame construction for use with another sealing pin, the latching pawl being omitted.

Figure 12 shows the latching pawl in the latched and locked position for the construction illustrated in Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a view in side elevation of the frame shown in Figure 12 and illustrating the portion thereof carrying the sealing pin for. locking the latching pawl.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the improvement is shown as applied to a railway hopper car includ- 2,738,735 Patented Mar. 20, 1956 ICC ing a four sided load containing hopper having side Walls 10 and 11 and end walls 12 and 13 leading to a discharge opening 14.

Enclosing the lower portion of the hopper is a unitary frame member 15 having an upper four sided portion including walls 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively enclosing the walls 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the hopper, said wall 19 having an elongated slot 20 therein for the accommodation of a sliding gate therethrough. The frame below the upper section is provided with a four sided chute like portion 21 formed of walls including side walls 22 and 23 which meet with transversely extending walls 24. and 25. In termediate the upper and lower sections the frame 15 is provided with horizontally disposed walls 26 and 27, Figure 5, which extend longitudinally and unite with a transversely disposed end wall 28, Figure 3, at the slotted end of the outlet.

The frame 15 intermediate the overlying upper walls 16, '17, 18 and 19 and the lower chute section 31 is provided on three sides adjacent the end wall 18 and side Walls 16 and 17 with an enlarged portion in the form of an inverted U shape including inner vertical flange walls 29, Figure 5, upper walls 39 and outer walls 31, the latter extending around three sides of the frame and integrally uniting the upper and lower sections of the frame. The inner vertical flange Walls 29 have their lower edges spaced appreciably above the horizontal walls 26, 27 and 28 and there is thus formed on three sides of the frame 15 a hollow chambered portion opening downwardly. Extending transversely across the outer end of the frame 15 there is provided a transversely extending depending wall 32, Figure 3, having its lower edge 33 in alignment with the lower edge 34 of the depending flange walls 29 on the other sides of the frame.

The edges 33 and 34 of the depending flange walls present a fiat surface plane of a four sided enclosure as formed by the walls 29 and 32. The inner faces of these walls thus define the boundaries of the discharge opening 14 of the hopper.

The discharge opening 14 is adapted to be closed by a longitudinally s-lidable gate 35 which is also arranged to have vertical movement to engage with the edge portions 33 and 34 of the depending walls 29 and 32.

The gate 35 includes a raised central body portion 36 and saucer like depressed end and side portions including a flat lower section 37, Figure 4, connected to the central portion 36 by sloping wall sections 38. Extending completely around the margin of the gate 35 is an upwardly extending flange 39 which inv combination with the fiat section 37 and the sloping wall section 38 forms a dished portion 40 extending around the gate.

The gate 35 on its underside is provided with a series of transversely extending rack teeth 41, Figure 3, which are disposed to follow the contour of the gate as represented by the two levels 36 and 37 and the connecting inclined section 33. Cooperating with the rack teeth 41 are interengaging toothed pinions 42 which are non-rotatably mounted on an operating shaft 43, the latter being journaled in the frame at each side thereof in bearings 44, Figure 7.

The bearings 44 are preferably formed integrally with side wall extensions 45 of the frame 15, said extensions projecting forwardly beyond the gate 35 when the latter is in closed position to form brackets 46 for carrying one end of extension rails 47 for supporting the gate in open position.

The rails 47 each include an upper runway surface 48 forming continuation of side runway surfaces 49 on the frame 15 and each side of the undersurface of the gate 35 is provided with a bearing surface 50 for co-acting with said surface 49 of the frame when the gate is being slidably moved.

The frame adjacent the respective ends of the opening is provided with inclined surfaces 51 and 52, the former leading to a horizontal end wall 53 at the closed end of the outlet frame and the latter 52 being at the open end of the frame at each side thereof and each leading upwardly to a flat bearing surface 54.

Extending from each side of the gate at the open end of the frame 15 are laterally extending wings 55, Figure 9, each having an inclined under surface 56 disposed in transverse alignment with the inclined wedging surface 52 of the frame and beyond said inclined surfaces 52, the wings are each provided with a flat bearing seat 57 lying substantially in alignment with the flat bearing surfaces 54 of the frame.

The gate 35 is arranged to be moved in a lengthwise direction upon rotation of the shaft 43. There is provided at the outer end of the shaft 43 an operating head 58 having bar receiving sockets 59 for accommodating a removable bar (not shown) which is employed for rotating the shaft 43 to move the gate 35 from and to closed position.

The operating head 58 is provided with a hub portion 61 carrying a lug 62 arranged to co-operate with a latching pawl 63 for the purpose of locking the shaft 43 against rotation in a reverse direction. The latching pawl 63 is pivotally supported on a trunnion 64 preferably integrally formed with one of the sidewall extensions 45 of the frame 15 and it is swingable on the trunnion 64 to move into and out of the path of the lug 62.

The frame 15 is provided with a pair of spaced walls 65 and 66, Figure 7, projecting forwardly at a location adjacent the latching pawl 63 and said respective walls are formed with aligned apertures 67 through which a sealing pin 68 extends. The sealing pin 68 at its inner end is provided with a downwardly extending handle 69 and at its outer end with a key shaped section 70 having an opening 71 for the reception of a seal. The latching pawl 63 is provided with a key shaped aperture 72 disposed to register with the key shaped sealing section 70 of the sealing pin 68 when the latching pawl 63 is positioned in operative latching relation as shown in Figure 8.

The full advantage of this invention may be best realized by following the operations involved in closing the gate 35 as follows: Assuming the gate 35 in partly opened position as shown in Figures 4 and 6, in which position it rests upon the side runway surface 49 of the frame 15 and upper surface 48 of the extension rails 47, movement of the gate 35 in a closing direction is effected by rotation of the shaft 43 by reason of the interengagement between the teeth of the pinions 42 and the rack teeth 41. Continued movement of the gate 35 in a closing direction operates to dispose the lower corner 73, Figure 4, into engagement with the inclined surface 51 at the closed end of the frame 15 coincidently with a similar wedging contact being established at the opposite end of the frame 15 between the inclined surface 56, Figure 9, of the laterally extending wings 55 and the inclined wedging surface 52, Figure 4, at each side of the frame 15 where upon further movement of the gate 35 in a closing direction it rides upon these inclined surfaces and is lifted upwardly with the saucer like depression or dished portion 40 embracing the depending flanges or inner walls 29.

The cooperating engagement between the teeth of the pinions 42 and the rock teeth 41 carried by the inclined wall section 38 of the gate 35 further assists in the upward lifting thereof. The gate 35 is thus lifted by the combined wedging action and the upward thrust imparted by the pinions 42 to the inclined section 38 of the rack teeth 41. The gate 35 at the end of its closing movement rests upon the fiat bearing surfaces 53 and 54 at the opposite ends of the gate 35 and the frame 15 as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 10. The gate 35, when firmly supported in closed position on flat bearing surfaces 53 and 54 may only be released by a bodily sliding movement thereof in an opening direction. To counteract any accidental displacement of the gate 35, the latching pawl 63 is swung in the path of movement of the lug 62, to the position shown in Figure 8, and subsequently it is locked by extending the sealing pin 68 through the key shaped aperture 72 of the pawl 63.

The opening movement of the gate 35 is a reversal of the above described operations.

In Figures 11, 12 and 13 there is illustrated an improved form of locking mechanism for the rotatably mounted latching pawl which, as shown in Figure 8, is arranged to bear against the lug 62 formed integrally with the hub portion 61 when the gate 35 is in the closed position for securely locking it closed. In the construction here illustrated, the wall 65, which extends parallel to the wall 66 and is spaced therefrom and is parallel to the latching pawl 63 and is adjacent thereto, is provided with a boss 74 that may be formed integrally therewith. The boss 74, as shown in Figure 11, has a key shaped opening 75 which constitutes an extension of a circular aperture 76 that is provided in the wall 65. A corresponding circular aperture 77 is provided in the wall 66.

As shown in Figure 12, the latching pawl 63 has a key shaped aperture 78 which is in registry with the key shaped aperture 75, Figure 11, when the latching pawl 63 is in locking engagement with the lug 62 on the hub portion 61.

For the purpose of holding the latching pawl 63 in the position shown in Figure 12, a sealing pin, shown generally at 79 in Figure 13, is employed. It will be observed that the sealing pin 79 has a cylindrical body 80 which is slidable through the circular apertures 76 and 77 in the walls 65 and 66. At the end of the sealing pin 79 away from the latching pawl 63 there is provided a head 81 which can he slid over the adjacent end of the cylindrical body 80 and secured thereto by means of a rivet 82. At the other end of the cylindrical body 80 there is provided a key shaped section 83 which is arranged to interfit with the key shaped opening 75 in the boss 74 and also with the key shaped opening 78 in the latching pawl 63. It will be noted that the key shaped section 83 has an aperture 84 for receiving a sealing band or wire.

it will be understood that the sealing pin 79 is assembled by inserting the end arranged to carry the head 31 through the circular apertures 76 and 77 in the walls 65 and 66 prior to the assembly thereon of the head 81. Thereafter the head 81 is placed in position and the rivet 82 is inserted and headed over. This then makes it certain that the sealing pin 79 cannot be lost from its position in the circular apertures 76 and 77. The reason for this is that the head 81 is large enough to prevent movement of the sealing pin 79 through the circular aperture 77 in the wall 66 while the extended portion of the key shaped section 83 prevents similar movement through the aperture 76 in the wall 65.

When the sealing pin 79 is Withdrawn to inoperative position, the key shaped section 83 interfits with the key shaped aperture 75 in the boss 74 and thus the sealing pin 79 is held in position where it can be readily moved therefrom into the key shaped aperture 78 in the latching pawl 63. Thus it is unnecessary to rotate the sealing pin '79 for the purpose of registering the key shaped section 83 with the key shaped aperture '78 when it is de sired to lock the latching pawl 63 in the position shown in Figure 12.

it will be noted that the side wall extension 45 underneath the latching pawl 63 has a stop boss 85 projecting therefrom and formed integrally therewith. It is provided for engagement by a stop boss 36 carried by the latching pawl 63 on its inner side for the purpose of holding it in the position shown by the broken lines in Figure 12. ]n this manner the latching pawl 63 is held in the inoperative position and is prevented from swinging farther in a clockwise direction where it might otherwise interfere with the operation of the shaft 43 in moving the gate 35 from or to the closed position.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In an outlet assembly for the load containing hopper of a railway car, a frame including an upper hopper section leading to a rectangular four sided discharge opening having a rectangular sliding gate for closing the opening, said gate having a saucer like depression extending around its margin with a planar central surface section above the bottom of said saucer like depression, flange walls depending from said hopper section around said opening and positioned above the depressed portion in said gate, and means for moving said gate vertically to dispose the bottom of the depression in sealing engagement with respect tothe lowermost surfaces of said depending flange walls.

2. In an outlet assembly for a load containing hopper including a four sided discharge opening, a frame bordering the opening, a sliding gate slidably mounted in the frame for closing the opening, said frame having in one of its sides an elongated slot for the accommodation of the gate therethrough and having adjacent the other three sides a hollow open sided chambered section, said chambered section being in the form of an inverted U with one of the walls forming a flange disposed in the plane of the gate when the latter is in closed position, said gate having a depression around its margin lying below the flange of the chambered section, and means for moving said gate upwardly to embrace the lower portion of the flange and form a seal around the opening.

3. In an outlet assembly for a load containing hopper including a rectangular four sided discharge opening and a rectangular sliding gate for closing the opening, a frame bordering the discharge opening and formed with depending flanges around four sides of the opening to form a rectangular four sided enclosure, said gate having a depressed section extending around the sides thereof with a planar central surface section above the bottom of said depressed section, said depressed section being shaped to provide a bottom wall having a seating surface adapted to sealingly engage the edges of the depending flange walls and said gate being movable vertically to dispose the depressed portion of the gate in embracing relation with respect to the lower portion of the flanges, means for moving the gate upwardly, said means including cooperating wedging surfaces carried by the gate and frame respectively and along which the gate is arranged to ride, and means for moving the gate along the wedging surfaces including interengaging rack and toothed pinion means carried by the gate and frame.

4. In an outlet assembly for a load containing hopper including a four sided discharge opening and a sliding gate for the opening, a frame bordering the discharge opening and formed with depending flange walls presenting a four sided enclosure, said gate having a depressed section with walls adapted when the gate is in closed position to enclose the lower portions of said flange walls, said gate being movable bodily upwardly to enclose the flange walls, means for communicating upward movement to the gate including co-operating wedging surfaces carried by the frame and gate respectively along which the gate is arranged to ride, and means for moving the gate along the said wedging surfaces including toothed pinion means carried by the frame and rack teeth carried by the underside of the gate and engaging with the pinion teeth, said rack teeth on the underside of the gate being disposed along the different levels of the gate and along the inclined surface of the wall uniting the respective levels of the gate.

5. In an outlet assembly for a load containing hopper including a four sided discharge opening and a frame bordering the opening, said frame being formed with depending flange walls forming a four sided enclosure around the opening, a gate slidably mounted in the frame for closing the opening and movable vertically for sealing the opening between the gate and lower edge portions of the flange walls, means for moving the gate vertically including inclined surfaces on the frame along which the said gate is adapted to ride, and means for moving the gate along the inclined surfaces, said means including toothed pinions rotatably mounted on the frame and interengaging rack teeth disposed on the underside of the gate, said teeth of the rack being disposed along a contour corresponding substantially to the path of movement of the gate in its transition from one level to another along the wedging surfaces of the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,623,303 Burnett Apr. 5, 1927 2,051,985 Cartzdafner Aug. 25, 1936 2,142,236 Campbell Jan. 3, 1939 2,145,173 Hankins Ian. 24, 1939 2,222,280 Batho Nov. 19, 1940 2,228,299 Campbell Jan. 14, 1941 2,386,702 McBride Oct. 9, 1945 2,640,438 Dorey June 2, 1953 

